Obituary
Obituary is an American death metal band formed in 1984 in Tampa, Florida under the name Executioner, then changed the name's spelling to Xecutioner, and later changed their name to Obituary in 1988. The band comprises vocalist John Tardy, drummer Donald Tardy, guitarist Trevor Peres and bassist Terry Butler. The band is a fundamental act in the development of death metal music and one of the most successful death metal bands in the world. The End Complete Has sold more than 550,000 copies in Worldwide sales History Obituary is one of the pioneering bands of the death metal genre. Founded as Executioner in Seffner, Florida during 1984. They soon dropped the "E" from their name because of another band of the same name, becoming Xecutioner. At the time the band was composed of John Tardy (vocals), Allen West (lead guitar), JP Chartier (guitar), Jerome Grable (bass) & Donald Tardy (drums). The band released demos in 1985, 1986, and 1987, the 1985 demo as Executioner and the 1986 and 1987 demos as Xecutioner. They made their vinyl debut in 1987 with two tracks ("Find The Arise" & "Like The Dead") on the Raging Death compilation. Not long after its release, Grable was replaced with bassist Daniel Tucker. Shortly before the release of its first album the following year, Slowly We Rot, they changed their name to Obituary. The band still remains an influential piece of the Florida death metal movement that arose in the late 1980s. After 1997's Back from the Dead album, the band had grown tired of touring, which led to the band disbanding. During the hiatus, Donald Tardy played in Andrew W.K.'s touring band (during W.K.'s appearance on Saturday Night Live Tardy wore an Obituary shirt). Allen West focused on his two projects, Lowbrow and Six Feet Under while not playing in Obituary. Trevor Peres formed Catastrophic in 2001, which released one album, The Cleansing, in that same year. Obituary reformed in 2003 and Catastrophic continued to exist alongside the reformed Obituary. A reunion album, Frozen in Time, was released in 2005. The band's first live DVD, Frozen Alive, was released in January 2007. Obituary was signed with Candlelight Records for its next two albums, Xecutioner's Return (2007) and Darkest Day (2009), as well as the EP Left to Die (2008). A concert DVD release was also announced for January 2010. As of April 2010, according to frontman John Tardy, Obituary has begun work on new material for their next album. This will be the first Obituary album not to be recorded with longtime bassist Frank Watkins since their 1989 debut album Slowly We Rot. According to guitarist Trevor Peres, Obituary does not have a record label, but they have been in talks of signing with Century Media Records. Since 2012, the band have been highly involved with the promotion of a new social networking site called Unation, as well as Donald Tardy beginning a Cat Sanctuary organization called Metal Meowlisha. In 2013, the band rebuilt their studio, and continued work on the new album, with Tardy claiming that the band's progress in the studio will be documented on the new website. Members ;Current members * John Tardy – vocals (1984–present) * Trevor Peres – rhythm guitar (1984–present) * Donald Tardy – drums (1984–present) * Terry Butler - bass guitar (2010–present) ;Former members * Jerome Grable – bass guitar (1984–1988) * Allen West – lead guitar (1984–1989, 1992–2006) * JP Chartier – lead guitar (1986) * Daniel Tucker – bass guitar (1988–1989) * Frank Watkins – bass guitar (1989–2010) * James Murphy – lead guitar (1990) * Ralph Santolla – lead guitar (2007–2011) ;Live members * Kenny Andrews - bass guitar (2010) * Steve DiGiorgio - bass guitar (2010) * Lee Harrison - guitar (2012) Discography ;Studio albums *''Slowly We Rot'' (1989) *''Cause of Death'' (1990) *''The End Complete'' (1992) *''World Demise'' (1994) *''Back from the Dead'' (1997) *''Frozen in Time'' (2005) *''Xecutioner's Return'' (2007) *''Darkest Day'' (2009) *''Untitled ninth studio album'' (2013) ;Live albums *''Dead'' (1998) ;DVDs *''Frozen Alive'' (2006) *''Live Xecution Party San 2008'' (2010) ;Extended plays *''Don't Care'' (1994) *''Left to Die'' (2008) ;Compilation albums *''Anthology'' (2001) *''The Best of Obituary'' (2008) External links * Official website Category:American death metal bands Category:Death metal bands